“You’re saying we have a leak?” Boris asked coldly.
“I’m saying it’s a possibility,” Yarok admitted.
“I will look into this,” the Albanian promised.
“Do,” Yarok replied. That will get you off my back while I take care of the real business. “In the meantime, I’m going to try to find where they ran to to hide. I doubt that Rozaje is going to be their last target. It will be interesting to see where their final destination lies.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Mike leaned back in the beach chair and readjusted his sunglasses as a really stunning woman wearing barely a G-string walked by.
“What did we get, Patrick?” he asked. The beaches of the Adriatic had their good points. At the moment, he was fixated on two of them.
Getting across the border into Croatia had been relatively easy. There were dozens of small border crossings near Vinica and Ŏitluk that had lax security. Smuggling was endemic in the area and the few crossings that had guards were entirely revenue generators. They had been more than willing to take their usual cut for smuggling girls.
The coast of Croatia had numerous islands and beaches and was a destination spot for summer tourists from throughout Eastern Europe. A quick change of demeanor and the group were tourists, schoolkids taking in the sun along the Adriatic. They’d even been able to check into a decent hotel for once.
And all the Keldara girls had broken down and gotten swimsuits. For the cover of course. Most of them were far less daring than the lovely blonde, Czech or Slovak at a guess, who had just wandered by, but they were still an eyeful.
“They apparently did get full audio and video on their clients,” Vanner said, tightly. “I only… audited it. But it’s pretty rough. The problem being, there are only five DVDs from the haul. And our girl isn’t on any of them.”
“That’s good I suppose,” Mike said.
“Yeah, but they’re only recent DVDs,” Vanner pointed out. “The rest were transported out to a town called Lunari.”
“Crap,” Mike said, picking up his sunscreen and wiping some on his chest. He’d picked up a hell of a farmer’s tan over the winter and spring.
“But…” Vanner said. “I’m not sure it matters. We got the rest of their records. They didn’t keep electronic records, but the files were solid. And there’s interesting news.”
“Don’t keep me waiting,” Mike said, watching a couple of the Keldara girls splashing each other. He briefly considered joining them and then suppressed the idea.
“The thing is, all the girls that went to Rozaje didn’t die,” Vanner said. “We’re having a hard time translating all the files since they’re in fucking Albanian. I’m having to scan them in and OCR them then run them through a translator. You know how funky that can come out. But we’re sure that some girls leave. Sometimes they had too many there. A client or clients wouldn’t show up, whatever. They’d end up with too many girls from time to time and they’d ship out the excess.”
“Don’t tell me Natalya slipped through the cracks” Mike said, incredulously.
“That’s the way it looks,” the intel specialist replied, grinning. “She got transported to Lunari along with a bundle of DVDs.”
“Shit,” Mike said, sighing. “What do we have on Lunari?”
“It’s not going to be fun,” Vanner admitted. “It’s the center for girl running, and drug running and gun running in Albania. Totally lawless. It’s controlled by about six different clans or gangs; there’s not much distinction. The government doesn’t even try to control it. Landlocked but not far from the sea. From the intel I’ve managed to get, not much, it’s also pretty carefully controlled. There are notes about elaborate security systems. And the gangs are heavily armed. There’s some stuff in the files on it, too, but… getting through all of them is going to take time. I could use some help on translation.”
“Any idea where, exactly, the booty is?” Mike asked.
“Yep,” Vanner said. “Natalya, and the DVDs, were sent to a particular brothel run by the Dejti gang.”
“That’s a familiar name,” Mike mused.
“He was, apparently, one of the guys in tight with the clan,” Vanner said. “That’s going to be an issue. Long term, at least.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Mike said, standing up. “I’m going swimming. Want to come?”
“In a minute,” Vanner said, swallowing. “There’s something else. We didn’t get the DVDs, but we did get their client list and payment rendered for services, so to speak.”
“And?” Mike asked, pausing.
“I ran a bunch of names through the internet,” Vanner said, shaking his head. “It’s not exactly a Who’s Who, but there are a lot of… well, rich people at least. And a few that are just powerful. Jesus, Kildar, this data is political dynamite!”
“I’d figured as much,” Mike said, sighing.
“The former French commander of KFOR, for God’s sake!” Vanner said.
“That explains the security,” Mike said, dryly. “What about our friend the senator?”
“Senator Traskel isn’t on it,” Vanner said, tightly. “Neither is his son. But… there is someone you’ve heard of…”
“Oh… blast,” the President said, looking at the message.
“There was just the one word, sir,” Pierson replied. “But I think the meaning is clear.”
“Senator Grantham!” the secretary of defense snarled. “Impossible! I’ve known him for… decades!”
Senator Pat Grantham was the senior senator from South Carolina, a staunch supporter of the President, noted for his religious views and outspoken religious conservatism. A determined but honorable in-fighter in the Senate, losing him would be a nasty political blow to the President’s agenda.
“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men,” the national security advisor replied. “He was on the junket, too. I don’t see how it changes things.”
“Well, it’s going to make our jobs harder,” the chief of staff pointed out. “I’d be more than happy to see Traskel gone. Grantham, on the other hand…”
“There is no ‘other hand,’ ” the president said, definitely. “None. As with Senator Traskel, I’m going to wait on solid confirmation. But if we get it, Grantham will no longer be a senator. Period.”
“The senator’s from another party…” the chief of staff pointed out.
“I don’t care,” the president snarled. “Not One Damned Bit. I doubt I can give him the justice that he so richly deserves. But he will no longer be a senator of the United States.”
Mike was surprised at the extent to which the Keldara girls were willing to play a little grab-ass. He’d put it down to the “Kildar” effect, but they were playing with the militiamen as well. Hell, even Oksana was out there, playing in the very small waves. Mike hadn’t tried any grab-ass with her, only to find the girl, along with some of the Keldara girls trying to tackle him. He’d let them dunk him and then swam through their legs, pulling them under and then pushing them back to the surface; very few of them were strong swimmers. They’d been amazed and alarmed at how long he could hold his breath.
The problem with the grab-ass was that it was getting him horny. And the Keldara girls were off-limits. So, for different reasons, were the girls they’d “picked up.” He still wasn’t sure what to do with them. Transferring them from sexual slavery to the harem, a different form of sexual slavery for all extents and purposes, didn’t seem like a decent use of his time. Something would have to be done, but that was for another day.